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All I Have To Give Chapter 2 That night at 8:00 on the dot, our doorbell rang. I looked at myself in the mirror once again. I was wearing a silky spaghetti strap red dress with a square neck. I had a gold necklace on and nice red shoes. I had put my hair up in a French twist and a few hairs were left down by my ears. I had simple gold balls for earrings and I figured I looked as dressed down for this as I could manage. Besides, we had been going to so many of these lately I didn�t want to end up wearing the same dress since the pictures were usually in the paper and I had used all my nicest dresses on all the latest ones. I heard my parents talking and laughing with Bret so I decided I had better get down there. I grabbed the tiny purse I was going to take and headed down the stairs. As usual, he was wearing a tux with his hair slicked back. �Honey, you look magnificent,� my dad said as I came down and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. �You look beautiful Shelby,� my mom told me. She also gave me a peck on the cheek. �You still look gorgeous with the tiniest amount of make-up. Natural beauty has always run in the Johnson family.� �You look very nice,� Bret complimented. I forced a smile as Bret took my hand. �Bye mom, bye dad,� I said as we headed out to the limo. �Hey Shelby!� Jack, the limo driver, greeted as we got in. �Hey Jack! How�s life been treating you lately?� I asked as I got situated on the leather seats. �Great lately! I found me a great girl.� �Really?! That�s great Jack! I hope it works out! She�s lucky to have a cool guy like you,� I complimented. Jack had always been super nice to me right from the beginning. I was always myself with him and more prim and proper around Bret�s family. �So,� Bret cleared his throat. �The banquet tonight is for a charity, so there will be guest speakers and there�s rumor George Keshton will be there. Exciting isn�t it?� �Um, who�s George Keshton?� Bret looked taken back and shocked. �Mr. Keshton is the president of a multi-million dollar company he started from scratch.� �Wow,� I said, already bored. �Well�� Bret went on, but I busied myself as watching the passing scenery. I had always loved Florida. I loved beaches and the warm weather. We lived near a beach, so I�d go out there at night a lot and watch the sun go down and just walk along the beach. It was so peaceful. ��and that should be about everything. It�s going to be a great night,� I heard Bret finishing up. I smiled at him and pretended I had heard everything. �Sounds great.� He smiled and nodded. He looked out the window and I carefully studied him. I guess he was kinda cute. He had dark hair, piercing brown eyes, a strong jaw, thin glasses that gave him an older, intellectual look, he had a few freckles sprinkled over his slightly too long nose, but he was actually fairly cute. I tried to remember everything I had once been so in love with. I had always loved how he made me laugh. He was always really sweet and bought me beautiful clothing and anything I would ever need. I had always loved how he got along great with my family and how he took care of us, no questions asked. Then I remembered something that had changed. He always used to ask me if I wanted to do something or go somewhere. He was always generous and thinking about what I wanted too. Back then I wanted to go to the rich parties and mingle among rich people, but I got bored of it after awhile. Soon though, Bret started telling me where we were going to go and when to be ready. I didn�t notice it at first, it was a slow change. But now he had helped my family too much and dating him was how I was repaying him. I owed it to his generosity and to my family. We soon arrived at the party and there were already many people and important people from our town there milling around and talking amongst themselves. I saw Bret�s parents talking lightly over across the room and saw some other familiar faces. I soon felt Bret taking my arm and putting it through his. From watching other couples, I knew to walk slightly behind Bret, but I was so accustomed to that, I didn�t really think about it, just did it. I was quiet while Bret made himself seen and talked to people, but I smiled when needed and pretended to listen, just not have anything to say. Finally we all sat down and Bret and I were sharing a table with his parents, the city counselor, and the city treasurer. The city governor was up at the podium getting ready to speak. She talked for a bit about the charity and soon she announced the first guest, Bill Marlson. There was light applause from around the room. For the next two hours there was speaker after speaker talking about different parts of the charity, how great it was, certain cases in it, and all that stuff. Not to be rude, charities are great causes, but I was about ready to fall asleep right there at the table. Bret had been right, the very last speaker was George Keshton. When his name had been called, everyone applauded more and stood up. He was a large, round man with snow colored hair, and thick glasses. He was wearing a nice gray suit, thought most of the men were wearing tuxes. He talked for the longest time, but as I looked around, most people seemed excited by him speaking, so I tried to pay attention. Impossible. Finally, after everyone was done speaking, they showed a film show. It must have been hard to come up with because it was a lot of the same things over and over from different perspectives. I would have rather been in Science right then watching one of those boring movies. After that ended, about 11:00, (thank goodness for watches) there were some snacks, and everyone started leaving around midnight. �Um, Bret,� I asked afterwards as I saw some people leaving. �Yes?� �I hate to interrupt,� I smiled apologetically at the couple he was talking to, �but I�m really tired and I have to meet a friend early tomorrow morning, so can you please take me home?� He got a pained expression on his face. �Well, I was really enjoying this tonight. I was hoping we could stay later. Well, how about you just tell the driver to take you home and he�ll come back and I�ll go home later? I�m finding this banquet very interesting and I want to find more about it.� He kissed my cheek. �Good-night Dear, I�ll call you tomorrow evening.� I smiled lightly. �Okay, bye.� I started to walk away politely, but when I was certain no one was watching me anymore, I let go of my perfect posture and walked normally. I slipped off my shoes which were killing my feet and took down the barrette that kept my hair in. I saw Jack leaning up against the limo reading something. �Hey Jack!� I called. He looked up, startled. �Oh, hey Shelby. Where�s Mr. Redkin?� I�m tired so I told him I wanted to go home. He doesn�t want to, so he thought you should take me home then come back and wait for him.� I smiled apologetically. Jack sighed. �Okay, but I�m sorry if I�m rude, but that man should learn some everyday manners like listening to your lady.� He smiled at me and opened my door. �Thanks,� I said as I stepped in. I opened the window connecting the front and back and leaned on it. �How was the evening?� Jack asked as we started going. I shrugged. �I�ve never liked these things, personally, they bore me.� Jack laughed his hearty, deep from the gut laughed that I loved. He was like a grandfather to me, even though he wasn�t nearly that old. �I�m glad for that. You really don�t seem the type for these types of things. What do you do when you�re not with Bret?� �I�m with my best friend Nick a lot. We play Nintendo, basketball, talk, all that kind of stuff. I�m real close to his family and his sister, BJ, and I are pretty good friends. That whole family is my second family.� �That�s the kind of girl you remind me of.� We pulled up in front of my house then. �Bye Jack, I�ll see ya later.� �Shelby, can I ask you something?� �Sure,� I leaned in the front passenger side window. �How come you always go to these things if you don�t like them?� I sighed. �Bret makes me,� I answered simply then walked up the driveway into my dark house.Next: Chapter 3 |